Raw Mango with Chana Dal / Kairichi Dal

Raw mango is definitely not in season, but I found a really nice green raw mango at whole foods last week and couldn't resist myself from buying. On my way home I was thinking about delicious Kairichi dal( Raw mango with chana dal) that my mom used to make in summer. I am a big fan of raw mango, not the one we get here but the one that I used to eat back in India. Really tangy and tarty! Yum!!!
Without thinking twice, I came home and soaked chana dal and waited  for four hours to get started.:)

Ingredients-:

• 1 cup of chana dal soaked minimum 4 hours.
• 1/2 cup of shredded raw mango
• 1 green chilli- chopped
• 1 dried red chili
• 3 tbsp of shredded fresh coconut
• Few springs of cilantro
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp sugar

For tadka/ tempering

• Oil-1/4th cup
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Turmeric- 1/2 tsp
• A generous pinch of asafoetida
• 5-6 curry leaves

Method-:

• Drain the soaked chana dal and pat it with a paper towel to get rid of most of the moisture.
• In a blender, add the chana dal, green chilli, salt sugar and blend well.
• Add the shredded raw mango to the chana dal mixture and keep aside.
• Tadka/ tempering- In a kadai add oil, when heated add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, turmeric and curry leaves and dried red chilli. Turn off the heat.
• Pour the tadaka over the chana dal mixture and mix well.
• Sprinkle the chopped cilantro and shredded fresh coconut over the dal and serve.

Note:

• Since the dal is raw make sure you add a generous pinch of asafoetida to make the dish easy on your stomach. Also make sure to keep the portion right (light)..:)
• Also I have noticed that the raw mangoes you get here are not much sour in taste. So if you think, that you need the dal to be more on the sour side, please increase the quantity of raw mango.

Re-posting for the event hosted by Simply Food's Taste of Tropics- Mango and Chef Mirelle's Global Creation.

Split Pea Soup with Baby Kale

What a perfect cloudy day for a hot bowl of split pea soup and a crusty piece of bread! I don't think I need anything more from life at this moment. Just finished reading a book called Practicing Mind by Thomas M. Sterner. Extraordinary book that talks about living in present moment and enjoy all the small and big joy that each moment brings to us. Decide your goal, keep the focus on it, but don't think that achieving the goal would be the only thing that make you happy, rather enjoy the process of reaching toward the goal while living in every moment on the path. A must read you all!

I always have great time updating and posting my recipes here on my space, but more than that I enjoy taking pictures and adding them to my post. Here is one of such pics.

Here is how they look before jumping into pot!

As promised yesterday (my FB followers would know) here is a post while we all await for the election results!

This is a kind of recipe that you can work on while you watch CNN/ MSNBC or any of your fav news channel today. 

Here is what you will need-:

• 1/2 cup organic split peas( it would be great if you can soak them for a couple of hours. If you don't have time you can use them as is.)
• 2 cups of organic vegetable broth
• 2 cups of organic Baby kale
• 1/2 medium onion - chopped
• Garlic- 2-3 cloves
• Extra Virgin Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• All spice- 1 tsp
• Bay Leaf- 1
• Jalapeno- 1 cut into small pieces
• Turmeric- 1 tsp
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Paprika- 1-2 tsp
• Herbamare- to taste ( use it instead of salt. If you have never used it before, you should give it a try. It's a sea salt with a nice blend of organic herbs and vegetables)
• Vegetables of your choice- carrots, mushrooms, bok choy etc.
• Water as needed.

Method-:

• In a large pan, put Extra virgin olive oil. After it gets heat up add chopped onion and saute it for a minute and then add the garlic and bay leaf.
• In a minute add turmeric and jalapeno. Then add veggies and saute for about a minute. Add washed soaked split peas. If you haven't soaked them already, take it into account that you might have to cook them longer than if you would have soaked them.
• Add vegetable broth and some water if needed. Bring everything to a boil, lower down the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until the peas get cooked. 
• Add in the super food- baby kale and mix well. Also add all spice, herbamare to taste and some more water or vegetable broth if it is too thick for a soupy consistency.
• Give a nice mix and let everything come together for 2-3 more minutes.
• If you want you can use a hand blender to puree the soup. Pour a few ladles aside and then puree the remaining soup and mix both together to get a nice consistency. For me I love the heartiness of the soup and like it as is.
• Ladle into a bowl and serve with a crusty bread...YUMM!!!

While the discussion/ polls heat up, ladle yourself a nice hearty bowl of this soup and a bread to go along! Having said that let me go back to the news and hope for the best next 4 years ahead as last 4..:) Fingers crossed!!!

Spooky Pumpkin Chocolate Bundt Cake

My first successful vegan cake ever! Yey...!!

I am sure you all have had lots of fun trick or treating last evening just like I did..:) To make your post Halloween day a little special here goes Pumpkin Chocolate Bundt Cake for all of you!!

Okay let me first admit that I am very very bad at baking. I mean really bad..:( The reason I love to cook is because most of the times you don't have to measure the ingredients and you can just eyeball stuff and adjust according to taste. I have always been cooking this way. After I started writing this blog, I got a little serious about measuring only because I realized that someone else (reader) other than me is probably going to try the same recipe. And so I had to be careful and responsible about what I put here.
Most of my friends or relatives who are good at baking have opposite point of view. They think baking is easiest, and there is no way you can go wrong with it. I attempted some serious baking but...no luck until this one...:)

Without further delay here are the ingredients-:
All Purpose Flour- 3 cups
Sugar- 2 cups
Cocoa- 1 tbsp
Cinnamon- 2 tbsp
Nutmeg Powder- 1 tsp
Cloves- 1/2 tsp
Salt -1 tsp
Baking soda- 2 tsp
Pumpkin puree- 1 can
water- 1and 1/2 cup
Vegetable oil- 1/2 cup
White Vinegar- 2 tbsp
Vanilla extract- 2 tsp

Glaze-:
Powdered sugar- 1/2 cup
Pure Maple syrup- 1/4th cup
Almond milk/ soy milk- 1 tsp
Cinnamon- 1/2 tsp

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients. Flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon,nutmeg, cloves, salt and baking soda.
• In another bowl whisk together pumpkin puree, water, oil, vinegar and vanilla.
• Mix the wet mixture into dry until thoroughly combined.
• Grease the bundt pan and pour the mixture into it and bake for about an hour. It took me an hour and 10 minutes. So check in an hour and let it sit in oven for few more minutes if needed.
• Place on a cooling rack after letting it hang in the pan itself for a few minutes.
• Mix the glaze ingredients together and pour over the cake.

Recipe Source- Veronica's Cornucopia.

Have A Nice Day Everyone!!